Confronted at the gym

James7

Barefooters
Aug 5, 2011
30
7
8
Does anyone have a letter they may have sent to a gym to complain at the lack of barefoot?
I was confronted by the gym manager saying i needed to wear shoes. i asked why....he said in case you drop a weight on your feet. I said i was only going on the treadmill to which he replied...what if you fall off and cut your foot. This weant on in a tedious fashion at which point he changed his arguement to club etiquette. So how come you can go barefoot outside in the summer and you dont have to wear shoes in the wet area and steam rooms?
I will be writing my own letter to the manager, including some research links, but wondered if other people have been in this situation and won their case?
I do suffer arthritis in my feet but dont want to play the medical card unless i have to.
Cheers in advance.
 
Hopefully, Longboard will come by. He has those documents you need. Or you can PM him.

I think education is needed in these situations. For example, you could drop a weight on your foot while wearing a pair of Nikes, and the shoe isn't going to save your foot. At the same time, he is right, you could slide off the treadmill and cut your foot. I did this very thing while I was at physical therapy three years ago. I lost focus when I looked away, my foot slid into the side, metal railing of the treadmill, and I cut my foot about 2 inches. I could have sued, but I didn't say anything to anyone because it was my fault, and I knew the risks going in. But that's the thing. They don't know who among us is reasonable and who is not. But, as long as these places know that we assume the risks of our being barefoot, when the conditions are reasonable and safe (I put that in there for you, Longboard. :barefoot: ), then I don't see why they can't let us go in there barefoot.
 
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I was barefoot on a treadmill at the gym when the himbo on duty said something to the effect of, "now I'm gonna havta disinfect the treadmill, hyuk hyuk". I said, "Thanks, that'd be great! I don't wanna catch anything from it!"

But the fact is, when I go into an establishment, I behave according to their wishes. Even if I'm paying for the privilege.

Likewise, when you come to my house, you better take off the footwear :)
 
Though, as TJ said - normal athletic shoes provide no protection if you drop something on your feet. The only way you can actually protect your feet from falling objects is to wear steel-toe boots with metatarsal guards on them (I used to have to wear them when I was a truck driver in my past life). Though, in defense of the gyms, we are all using logic, reason and personal responsibility as our guide. Unfortunately, there are folks out there that would be more than happy to net a nice payday due to their own idiocy - I think that's what we're up against.
 
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Hopefully, Longboard will come by. He has those documents you need. Or you can PM him.

Gyms are the toughest battle of all. My wife has a waiver at her high-end club based on the letters she presented from her podiatrist and attorney. Those same letters did NOTHING at the cheapo store-front club I run the T-mill in FeelMax Pankas mid-winter when I enrolled her for $6/month as a family member add-on. When I tried to fight that for her proving that she was barefoot at the exclusive club down the street regularly they still wouldn't budge.
Every month or so a new trainer confronts her at her gym, and we start all over again.
Gyms in general are NOT barefoot friendly nor willing to listen to reason.

Got a store or restaurant you want me to help with?
 
Likewise, when you come to my house, you better take off the footwear :)

I prefer they keep them on. We know that cultures of their shoe soles are much cleaner than cultures of their feet emerging from those incubators.
 
I think this is a key point - shoes incubate all sorts of nastiness, and to be honest the Gym is probably one place I'd be least likely to remove my shoes, especially in wet areas. My stepmother reminds me every time she sees me how filthy the streets are, yet I've never contracted athlete's foot there, but I sure have at the Gym. Ick. I'll take my chances on the filthy streets :).

I know that doesn't help the snowbound, though. If it were me, I'd save up for a decent 'mill like a Landice at home. Had one before and was very pleased with it.
 
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Most ironically gyms tend to be very unfriendly towards barefooters. I got so tired of the gym I was at, that I eventually quit. If you can believe it the manager was suggesting that other gym patrons were threatening to quit, over the 1 or 2 times I went barefoot. His thoughts were that he was willing to loose one member over many, despite the fact that he continually stated he was on my side. I didn't feel like he was being sincere and was only trying to manipulate me to conform to their silly shoe rule. So I quit, and I now workout at my workplace without any hassle barefoot.

Also I had another incident where I contacted a new facility that was opening up near my work that installed an indoor track. I know I probably shouldn't have but I emailed the management asking if I could run or workout barefoot. Management was very against me being barefoot, despite the fact that market themselves as being an "inclusive" facility. So about a week ago I decided to check out the new indoor track and see if they would actually do anything if I ran there barefoot. After a quick tour I did about an hour long run on the padded indoor track, and guess what no comments whatsoever. I even used some of the free weights in the weight area and again no problems. So the long term jury is out whether or not they will eventually say something to me, but until they do I have a second indoor track I can train on this winter.

My point to all this is that there are some gyms that are willing to be somewhat reasonable, and I would investigate other options if my present gym wasn't reasonable.
 
Sounds like he was lying to you, Horseman. I doubt anyone else actually threatened to quit just because you were barefoot.
 
"A customer complained" is the most frequently reported lie. Usually it comes after the "health code" and "insurance" myths are debunked whether at a gym, retail store, or a restaurant.
I've perfected a response to that one that has never failed, except at a gym.
 
And... don't keep us in suspense! What is that response?
 
The thing started when I was shopping at Kroger in suburban Detroit a few years ago. Two large old white ladies approached me and told me I needed shoes because of health department regulations. I told them they were incorrect, and continued pushing my buggy. They continued to double team me, adding the insurance excuse which I also debunked, so eventually they said "A customer complained". I looked at them sheepishly and said "Well in that case I better go get some shoes before I continue with my shopping" As they smiled and nodded I motioned for them to come closer and I whispered to them "I noticed a rather large black gentleman shopping in aisle three, I feel VERY uncomfortable around black people, will you please tell him to leave the store so I can continue shopping once I get some shoes?" I ended up shopping till I dropped, wrote corporate a letter, they were reprimanded and I was assured of barefoot shopping freedom for ALL by Kroger of Michigan.
 
I see.
 
I ran barefoot at the local gym for several months before one of the staff informed me they don't allow bare feet on the track. I'm not sure why the other dozen staff members that saw me up there didn't mention it previously, but I didn't feel it was worth getting into an argument over. I should email managment, and see if that is actually policy, or just misinformed staff. It is a city-run facility, so rules could be insane in the first place!
 
I ran barefoot at the local gym for several months before one of the staff informed me they don't allow bare feet on the track. I'm not sure why the other dozen staff members that saw me up there didn't mention it previously, but I didn't feel it was worth getting into an argument over. I should email managment, and see if that is actually policy, or just misinformed staff. It is a city-run facility, so rules could be insane in the first place!
Ran into the same problem here in Winnipeg at one of our indoor track. Left it alone and found one where I could run barefoot.
 
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No one complains at my home gym in the garage, and I don't have to wipe other people's sweat off the equipment either. I kinda miss the occasional eye candy though.
Same here Lee, especially to the eye candy... I guess my home gym is the condos gym, and other people are allowed to use it, they just don't. I am always the only person in there (and my toddler).
 
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